Hulms Bakery Colac

If you're after a bakery in Colac for a proper pie, Hulms Bakery is worth knowing about. It's a traditional kind of bakery: bread and rolls, sweet treats, sandwiches, coffee, and a pie warmer well stocked with options. Travellers have stopped in by chance, drawn by the pies and sausage rolls.

The pies are the main event. The Ned Kelly pie gets a lot of love, and we've heard a vegetable pie with a spicy Nepalese-style filling described as one of the best of a whole road trip around Australia. Potato pies, cheese and bacon, onion and plain meat pies are all in the mix, along with sausage rolls and pasties. One visitor found a plain pie fairly ordinary and not as hot as they'd like, so the pies seem to land best when you pick one of the standouts. Sausage rolls have won over at least one driver passing through, who called it among the best they'd had.

Away from the pie warmer, there's a good spread of cakes and slices. A hedgehog slice sent one young customer back for a second, and the vanilla slice and neenish tarts also get mentioned. A gingerbread man with the coloured buttons you choose yourself goes down well with kids. Coffee is on offer too, and it's been called better than your average bakery cup, which makes it handy for a breakfast stop.

People often remark on the staff, who come across as friendly, welcoming and happy to chat, and on prices that feel fair for what you get. It's takeaway-focused, with free street parking out the front and a wheelchair-accessible entrance. Cards and tap-to-pay are accepted. Memorial Square sits just across the road, so a pie in the park on a sunny day is an easy plan.

The bakery doesn't make any particular claims about halal, so if that matters to you, check the ingredients with the staff or stick to vegetarian options. Opening hours differ on weekends, so check the hours before you head in.